Real-time operating systems are designed for time sensitive operations where an action, in response to an event, is performed within a predetermined range of time. Such operating systems are of great advantage in various fields such as control, communication, navigation, etc.
Most operating systems are however non real-time operating systems. Under such operating systems, each command is given a certain priority but it is not possible to guarantee that the command will be executed within a predetermined predictable time range. Such operating systems are therefore usually not used for mission/life critical operations.
It is however very desirable to be able to execute certain commands, such as video data acquisition processing, data transfer, etc., within a predetermined time range and without having to install a new operating system. Furthermore, users that need real-time execution are usually very reluctant or cannot use commercial non real-time operating systems for their application.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus that will overcome the above-identified drawbacks.